Rod Shealy, SC political consultant and publisher, dies at 56 after battling cancerous tumor

SC political consultant Shealy dies at age 56

CHARLESTON, S.C. — South Carolina publisher and bare-knuckles political consultant Rod Shealy, who helped elect some of his state’s current and former political leaders, has died. He was 56.

Lori Unumb (YU’-num) said her brother died Wednesday at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, two years after undergoing surgery to remove a cancerous brain tumor.

Shealy published six small newspapers but was best known as a hardball political consultant prone to backing long-shot candidates. His winning candidates included Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer, former Treasurer Thomas Ravenel and Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom.